


everything is icy and blue (and you would be there too)

by divinepxlse



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - Small Town, Attempt at Humor, Fluff, Holidays, Inspired by Hallmark Christmas Movies, M/M, Mentions of alcohol, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, a lot of references to winter, not a slow burn, rated t only for gratuitous fraldarius swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:14:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,924
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28216791
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/divinepxlse/pseuds/divinepxlse
Summary: Dimitri sits up straighter. “What blend are you going to make?”“The new one.”“Oh?”“Yes. Stop making that face.”“Sorry,” he replies, chuckling at himself a little. “I got quite excited.“
Relationships: Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd/Felix Hugo Fraldarius
Comments: 4
Kudos: 18
Collections: 2020 Dimilix Exchange





	everything is icy and blue (and you would be there too)

**Author's Note:**

> for CiCi, whose prompts were all so amazing i almost couldn't choose!! i hope you enjoy reading this as much as i enjoyed writing it <3
> 
> happy holidays, dimilix nation!!!

“I _am_ on my way. Why would I lie about that?”

“Well, you haven’t come to town since that time I practically tricked you into coming with me,” Glenn says. He realizes he's being scolded. Felix feels a headache coming on, as per usual. “And Dad said you didn’t tell him anything. Just packed a suitcase and left like a man possessed.”

Felix grimaces slightly. He just managed to stop feeling guilty about that a literal minute ago— there was no need to remind him. “It’s not like he'd be able to come,” he reasons, sounding as ridiculous as he feels. “He has a lot of work to do.”

Silence on the other line. And then, sounding as exasperated as he probably feels, his brother says, “just don't die, dumbass. Mama will kill you if you do.”

Glenn ends the call.

Felix takes his phone from where it's mounted on the dash and throws it carelessly onto the passenger seat—just for dramatic effect, just for himself, because he is who he is—and steps on the gas.

He crosses the small stone bridge across a river and finally, _finally_ , his town's arch comes into view. It’s covered in snow, but the reflective letters are still visible. They’re glowing in that icy blue color just the way Felix remembers.

> **GALEHAULT**
> 
> **_The Home of Crumbs and Yums_ **

He tries not to smile fondly at the silly lettering underneath the town name and fails almost immediately. But that’s fine.

Felix is home, somehow.

The town is mostly unchanged. That’s something he’s always found weird, but especially after he moved to the city where change was the only constant. The town hall still looks the same— painted a clean white and reminiscent of Ancient Adrestian architecture. And even though the top of the bell tower is covered almost completely in snow, Felix can still see that it’s painted in the same old royal blue color he used to hate. The blinking fairy lights are the only new addition, but that’s just for the solstice.

The Martritz Medical Clinic is the same, too. The only difference is the bright red neon sign that says _OPEN_ _24 HOURS_ , complete with a blinking arrow that points towards the establishment. Felix snorts. It’s the most out-of-place thing he’s ever seen. Like an old casino neon sign got lost in the woods and ended up in town.

He checks his watch. _9:27 PM_ , it reads. Crumbs & Yums always closes at 10:00 PM on weekdays. It shouldn’t be too late to get his mom the cupcakes he knows she likes.

Until it is.

Felix gets out of his car so fast when he sees that the shop is already closed. “What the fuck?” He says to himself, probably way too loud considering the time. He rubs some frost off the shop windows with his jacket sleeve to see if it’s truly closed or if he’s just lost his mind from the few hours he spent driving.

Closed. The chairs have been put up on the tables and the pastry case is devoid of any sugary hells Felix could’ve gotten for his mom.

He huffs. His breath materializes in front of him and he remembers how poorly-dressed he actually is for the season, so he goes back into his car and closes the door. And then he turns his head to the other side of the street and finds a convenience store.

His mother’s house is in one of the least busy places in town, which is a euphemism for it being right where the woods start and the town ends. It’s one of the four houses situated there.

Felix spots Glenn’s obnoxious hot pink convertible before he spots anything else in that corner of town. It’s parked in the empty lot a few meters away from their childhood home, and its license plate is glowing in the dark.

Felix is going to kill his brother.

Still, he parks his car beside it, because it’s either there or near the woods. And everyone knows going near the woods at night is the stupidest thing you could ever do in Galehault.

It’s his mom who opens the door when he knocks. “Felyenka!” She exclaims, pulling him into a tight hug. He notices she’s still about an inch taller than him. And that evaporates the last semblance of hope he still had about his height.

“Mama, I thought I told you not to call me that anymore, Felix says, voice bordering on a whine even though he tried so hard not to make it sound like that. He’s embarrassing.

“Well, I thought I told you to never drive when there's a blizzard, and yet here we are,” she replies cheekily and lets him go. “Have you eaten?”

 _No,_ his mind supplies. “Yes.”

She looks at him strangely for a moment. And because he is Felix Hugo Fraldarius, _not_ a mama's boy, he tries to steel his expression and tries to find an out— “I bought cupcakes at the store,” he says, averting his eyes. “And, uh… Coffee.”

And then his mother laughs, because she is his mother, and she's always known him better than he could ever know himself. She grabs the brown paper bag containing the cupcakes and the three to-go coffee cups from his hands. “Your brother made fried rice for dinner earlier.”

Felix watches as she disappears into the kitchen.

“And hey,” she reappears, “don’t forget to take off your shoes. I’ll make you clean up the carpet if you soil it.”

He makes a noise that signifies _yes, I’ll leave my shoes on the rack, I’m not an animal_ , and follows her.

Glenn is not in the living room, but Felix doesn’t even have the time to wonder where he is, because his brother makes his presence in the kitchen known. “These cupcakes are terrible!”

Felix enters the kitchen and immediately goes to smack his brother upside the head. “Maybe because they aren't for you,” he says, taking the banana créme and chocolate cupcake from his hand and putting it back in the box. “I got you coffee.” He adds quietly.

“How cute, little Felyenka got his big bro a coffee!” Glenn coos, standing up from his chair and hugging him from the back. Felix elbows him in the stomach but doesn't try to shrug him off.

“Little Felyenka got you nothing,” says their mom, and before he could protest (at the nickname and the lie), she pours the coffee down the drain.

One dollar. Down the drain.

Felix is too distracted by his mother's actions to effectively stop Glenn from planting a big wet kiss on his cheek. He screams. “Die,” he pushes him off, wiping the saliva off his face.

Their mother doesn't even look up at them. “Shut the fuck up, you two.”

He takes a seat on the nearest stool, still glaring at Glenn, who is back to nibbling on one of the cupcakes. He takes a big bite and sneers. “I wasn't kidding. These cupcakes taste like ass.”

“Which you eat all the time?” Felix asks, feigning curiosity.

“Which you _look_ _like_ , all the time.” Glenn says through a mouthful.

He rolls his eyes. “C&Y was already closed when I drove by. I'll just get something from there tomorrow.”

Silence. His brother puts down the cupcake on the counter and simply continues chewing. The sound of silverware fills the air as they’re being grabbed from the drawers.

Felix raises a brow at Glenn, who is avoiding his gaze.“What—”

“Felix. Go change.” Mama pushes the drawers closed. “I'll make non-garbage coffee and then we can all sit down and watch garbage TV in the living room.”

“Do you remember, Mama? We used to sit with Dad like this, sipping our hot drinks and laughing at the dumb movies on TV.”

“Yes, yes. Of course, I remember. He used to tell you and Felix about how we spent our Wintercrests when we were your age.”

“I just wish we could have him here again.”

“Me too. Why did Rodrigue leave us so soon?”

What the fuck?

Felix enters the living room, hair down, flat brush in hand, dazed and confused. “Dad isn't dead.”

She slams her mug down on the center table dramatically. Her burgundy hair sways along with her action. “You ruined it!”

“He just isn't made for the stage, Mama,” Glenn adds and then takes a sip of his drink just as dramatically.

Maybe Glenn isn't lying whenever he tells Felix he's adopted.

He shakes his head. He makes his way to the single-seater, puts one leg up on the arm of the chair, and proceeds to brush his hair.

“By the way, Felya,” his mom pipes up. “How long are you staying? Surely the firm wouldn't allow their Senior Engineer to go on such a long vacation.”

Oh. Right. “I quit.”

Glenn starts laughing, and Felix makes a mental note to smack him for it later.

“What do you mean?”

“I gave my manager my two weeks notice today and she gave me those two weeks as vacation leave.” He answers her.

Glenn laughs harder. “So she didn't want you around anymore?”

Another mental note: smack him harder. “She said I was going to spend those two weeks being _myself_ in the office.”

And then Mama smacks Glenn herself, so no more mental notes. She turns to him. “Why did you quit?”

Felix puts down the hairbrush. “I didn’t want to work with assholes anymore.”

Kleiman Realty wasn’t the first company with an asshole president Felix has encountered. It wasn't even the fifth. He’s lost count. He thought the articles about ‘evil corporations’ were pure bullshit until he moved to the city for college and all of a sudden everything was so needlessly expensive.

After graduating and miraculously getting hired by the biggest architectural firm in the country, he saw even more of those corporations every day. Land developers are the worst. Kleiman was just the last straw.

“Well, I’m glad you have more free time now,” is all she says as a response, and Felix realizes she’s already dropping the subject.

He lets the hairbrush on his lap fall to the carpeted floor as he grabs his mug from the center table.

His mom’s brew is still the best he’s ever had. And that’s saying something because he isn’t even much of a coffee drinker. Tea is his primary source of caffeine. He doesn’t even know what her brew is called, or where it’s from, but he always found himself craving it whenever he was swamped with work.

Well. New mental note. Ask her how she makes her coffee.

She suddenly claps her hands. “I almost forgot! They’re showing a new Wintercrest Prince TV movie on CBN tonight!”

“Really? We should watch it!” Glenn enthuses, pointedly looking at Felix, because he’s just found another opportunity to annoy him.

Felix sighs.

He opens his eyes.

Fuck. His back hurts. His neck hurts. Did Hilda and Dorothea manage to drag him to some shady bar again?

Loud snoring.

That’s Glenn.

Right. He’s home. Hilda and Dorothea are miles away, probably getting ready for work now.

Felix yawns and squints at the analog clock. 5:49 AM; the other two are still asleep, Mama sprawled on the couch and Glenn snoring on the floor.

He wants to go back to sleep, but he remembers he promised to get something from the pastry shop for breakfast, so he stands up and walks to the bathroom to fix himself.

His phone vibrates violently in his pajama pocket as he brushes his teeth.

> **B**
> 
> how come hilda doesn’t have your number?
> 
> **emergency contact not glenn**
> 
> hey!!! Why didn’t u tell me u resigned!!! I had to get your number from miss eisner!!!! Where are u!!
> 
> FELIX
> 
> No one’s going to do my work for me now
> 
> This is so sad
> 
> AND HOW DID YOU RUN OFF INTO THE COUNTRYSIDE SO FAST!!! like wtf.. wasn’t there a blizzard last night??
> 
> You better be alive, bitch!!!

He quickly shakes off the smile slowly forming on his face and puts his phone back in his pocket.

Felix parks his mom’s bike on the rack in front of Crumbs & Yums and fetches his wallet from his back pocket. A little girl comes running out of the shop, bagel in hand, and almost bumps into him. “Sorry, Mister!” She says, flashing him a gummy smile and running off.

He enters the shop and immediately feels like something is different. There’s no one at the counter, and the only one dining in is Old Man Martinsson, who is somehow— _thankfully_ —still alive. Felix has no choice but to greet him.

The man smiles at him. “Good morning, young man! I haven’t seen you since yesterday!”

And Felix doesn’t know what he means by that, so he just nods politely.

“Felix?”

He turns around to find Annette on the other side of the counter, holding a tray of freshly-baked egg pie. “Felix! It’s really you!” She exclaims, putting the tray down and hurriedly taking off her apron and gloves.

“Hi,” he says, all awkward, because the last time they saw each other had been a disaster and Felix doesn’t know how she feels about it.

But he doesn’t have the time to overthink it, because she’s already pulled him into a bone-crushing hug. He hugs back and doesn’t let go until she does.

“I haven’t seen you since our high school reunion, and that was three years ago!” She kicks him in the shin playfully. “That means my last memory of you was you singing Too Much Love Will Kill You drunk out of your mind—”

“Annie, don’t bring that up now,” says another voice. Felix looks up to see Mercedes putting the egg pies in the pastry case.

“Aw, let me bully him sometimes, won’t you?” Annette pouts, crossing her arms.

Mercedes laughs. Now that Felix is really looking at her, he notices that her hair is long again, the way she kept it when they were younger. She smiles at him. “How have you been, Felix?”

“Fine, mostly,” he answers, because he doesn’t really know either. “I’m… spending Wintercrest here.”

Annette gasps. “So you’ll be here until the 25th?” She asks, beaming at him.

“Probably until the Guardian Moon, if my mother lets me stay. I’m on… vacation.”

Mercedes leaves to presumably get another batch of pastries from the kitchen.

“Come on. You say that as if Andreja would even think of kicking you out.” Annette says with an odd smile on her face. “She gets lonely in that big old house by herself, you know. You and Glenn should visit more often.”

Felix just nods, because he knows. Every winter since he moved to the city, Glenn would try to pull him away from his college dorm so they could visit together. But those five years as an engineering student in one of the country’s top universities were tough. He could never find free time. The same thing happened every year since he started working at Seiros Arkithetica.

But all of that’s over, because he doesn’t work there anymore, and he now has more than a little free time on his hands.

Mercedes comes back holding two trays of what looks like freshly-baked tarts.

“Oops, forgot about those! Let me help you, Mercie.” Annette gets back to the other side and starts putting her apron and gloves on again.

“You take this one, Annie.” She hands the tray on her left hand to Annette, and then puts down the other tray on the counter. “By the way, Felix, I’ve been meaning to ask— when did you get to town?”

Felix puts his hands in his pajama pockets. “Last night.”

She nods in understanding. The silence stretches on after that, so he opts to observe his surroundings. Overall, he doesn’t think the shop has changed all that much, just like the rest of the town. The colors are still mostly white and blue. White walls and blue tiles, white tables and blue chairs, everything is covered in the town’s most common colors. There are probably more celebrity pictures on the wall, but that’s it. It’s not like their perfect smiles while holding their choice of sweet and well-rehearsed autographs are enough to change the place.

Old Man Martinsson is still sitting in one of the booths, chewing on what Felix thinks are oatmeal cookies.

And then a thought strikes him. “Am I too early today? Where are all the people?”

Mercedes freezes. Annette clears her throat when she sees this, and loudly proclaims, “Felix! Of course you’re too early! It’s those… uh… big city jitters, right? The ones that compel you to wake up and have breakfast this early because, I don’t know… you might miss the bus or something! Right?”

He narrows his eyes at her. “What?”

“Uh, nevermind! You said you came in last night?” She says shakily. “In a fancy car, right? The kids were talking about it. I should’ve known it was you. All that hard work in the big city has paid off, huh?”

Felix can tell she’s trying to sound nonchalant about it, but she’s clearly just trying to change the subject. “My car isn’t fancy,” he replies, indulging her. “They were probably talking about someone else.”

“Right, right! Someone else. Yes.” Annette says, nodding more to herself than to him.

The bell tolls, and the cold wind suddenly hits Felix in the back, which means someone has entered the shop. He turns his head and finds that it’s his brother. His obnoxious convertible is parked out front, with the windows rolled all the way down like he wants the whole world to see the garbage in his backseat.

“My dear baby brother who I'm pretty sure is adopted,” Glenn announces, putting his hand over his heart in that awfully dramatic way only Andreja Fraldarius' children would know, “I knew you would be here. My powers of deduction are truly unparalleled.”

“Except I texted you where I went,” Felix retorts.

Glenn sighs and faces the two women at the counter. “Don’t mind him. He just doesn’t wanna accept that he’s adopted.” He then proceeds to push his face onto the glass case to stare at the pastries like he’s never seen them before.

“What are you doing?”

“Shut up,” he says to Felix right before flashing Mercedes the most insincere smile ever, “Ms. Martritz, do you have angel food cakes?”

Mercedes flashes him her customer service smile—equally insincere—and says with a strange firmness Felix has never heard in her voice before, “I’m afraid we only have devil’s food cakes, Mr. Fraldarius. You do know angel food cakes are only available during Wednesdays, right?”

The doors are closed, and the thermostat is usually set to a warmer temperature during this time of year, but Felix shivers.

“Ah, yes. I forgot. A few years of not coming home will do that to you.”

“Forgive me if I’m mistaken, but didn’t you come home last summer to visit?”

Annette clears her throat loudly before Glenn could answer. “Felix,” her voice breaks a little at the end, “you said you were getting Andreja a box of caramel tarts! I’ll get it for you— free of charge, as a welcome gift!”

Felix doesn’t remember saying anything like that. He’s not even sure whether his mother would like caramel tarts. Still, he nods, because the tension between his brother and Mercedes is too much and he doesn’t even know why it exists.

“What’s up with you and Mercedes?”

Glenn shoots him a quick glare. “Why the fuck are you asking me that?”

“You were being weird,” Felix answers simply, crossing his arms and leaning back on the passenger seat. “And I’ve never heard her being so passive-aggressive before.”

“She stole my girlfriend in high school.”

“Aren’t you gay?”

“What does that have to do with anything?” Glenn mumbles, keeping his eyes on the road. “That was the one time I tried to date a girl, and Martritz stole her from me. End of story.”

“You have a long-time boyfriend.”

“Holst knows about it. I’ve told him this story many times.”

Felix should’ve expected that. “It’s been more than a decade since you graduated high school.”

“I don’t want to argue with you about this,” his brother says, resolute. “We should’ve bought all of their bakes for today and put them in that big fridge for Mama.”

“Wouldn’t that mean helping their business out?”

“Yes, well…” Glenn trails off, checking the rear view mirror before steering around the corner. “Who knows when the buyers will come?”

What?

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

“Huh? Hasn’t Annette or that girlfriend-stealer told you?”

“Tell me what?”

“Mama said some big company has been trying to buy C&Y since the end of last year. Haven’t you noticed how no one came in the whole time we were in there? They’ve been getting more and more unpopular for some reason.” His brother prattles on. “Maybe it’s because people finally found out Martritz stole my girlfriend.”

Felix barely even hears that last part, because he’s struggling to unbuckle his seatbelt so fast. “Drive me back,” he says to Glenn, probably way too harshly considering the tone of their conversation.

“Why?”

He has no time for this. “Nevermind. I’ll just run.”

“Felix, what are you on about—”

He has gravely underestimated how big their town is.

When he gets back to the shop, Annette is standing outside looking like she’s waiting for someone. “Felix, you forgot your bike— _are you okay_?!”

He raises a finger—one minute, just let him catch his breath—“Have… have you… said yes?”

Annette doesn’t answer. She just pulls him by the arm and leads him inside.

Once he’s breathing fine, he asks the question again.

Mercedes and Annette are sitting across from him. They’re the only people in the shop now, and even the thought of that makes Felix feel terrible.

“We haven’t said yes,” Mercedes answers when it becomes apparent that Annette won’t. She just knew what Felix was asking about even without any elaboration on his part. “We aren’t sure if it would be the best choice. Right, Annie?”

Annette doesn’t look at either of them, but she nods.

Mercedes speaks up again. “Frankly, I find it strange that the company still hasn’t given up. They’ve been trying to persuade us and our mothers for almost a year now.”

Of course they won’t give up, he wants to say. They won’t give up because they know using the name ‘Crumbs & Yums’ on their products would bring in more profit. They won’t give up because they’ve got all the time in the world, and they know you don’t.

His younger self would’ve just said that without any hesitation, but that isn’t who he is anymore. There’s no reason to be so cruel.

That being said, he doesn’t know what else he’s supposed to say.

He looks down at the table. “I’m… sorry.”

“Don’t be, Felix,” Mercedes counters immediately. “This old place is fading, and it may be sad, but it’s reality. Maybe it’ll find more renown in the city where people don’t need to drive miles away just to buy our sweets.”

Annette stands up all of a sudden and finally faces the two of them. “I don’t want that. Maybe you’re right— maybe C&Y will be more successful there. Maybe it won’t go bankrupt. Maybe the people there will love and appreciate it. And that’s good! But then… but then,” she trails off, balling her hands into fists. “But then it wouldn’t be ours anymore.”

“Ours?” Felix repeats.

“Ours,” she nods fiercely. “Galehault’s. I know it sounds selfish, but… C&Y is ours. Our great grandmothers built this place from scratch for all of us at Galehault. We can’t just let it go without a fight!”

This is the easiest decision Felix has ever made in his entire life.

“I’ll help,” he says resolutely. “I’ll help you out with anything. You shouldn’t have to sell it if you don’t want to.”

Felix has enough savings to last him several years. He doesn’t need all that money. He got lucky landing a job with a ridiculous pay— he can help his friends out, no problem.

Annette starts to tear up. “You will?”

“Thank you, Felix. That’s very kind of you.” Mercedes says. “You know, you’re not the first person to offer help. It seems a lot of people do love our little bakeshop, and that makes me happy.”

Exactly when Felix opens his mouth to answer, the bell tolls, and the shop door swings open.

In walks a tall man wearing an all-black ensemble, probably trying to look inconspicuous and failing terribly because of his sheer height and the generally light colors of the shop.

The man looks around, and Felix gets the opportunity to look at his face. He's wearing sunglasses, a face mask, and a snapback with the hood of his black hoodie pulled over it.

Annette runs to the counter to talk to the man, and Mercedes follows suit.

And then the man pulls down the hood and loses everything that's obscuring his face from view.

The two women gasp in immediate recognition.

“Dimitri!” Annette exclaims. 

Dimitri?

“Give me one of everything,” is what the man replies with, apparently not sharing the enthusiasm. Felix watches as he makes his way to one of the booths on the other side of the shop. 

Annette and Mercedes are standing frozen at the counter. 

Felix starts walking and almost stops in his tracks completely when he finally gets a good look at the man's face. 

He is so _stupid_. He should've recognized the name immediately.

Dimitri. _Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd._

The last time he saw him was before the Blaiddyd family moved away. Right before middle school. They'd been best friends and classmates up to that point. His father used to be _mayor_. 

Annette and Mercedes start hurriedly preparing his order—one of _everything_ , is he insane?—and Felix is now the one frozen in the middle of the shop. 

Screw that. He jumps over the counter and follows the two into the kitchen, feeling like a criminal.

“Do you need help?” He whispers. 

“Can you—” Annette cuts herself off. “No. It's fine.”

Felix clicks his tongue. “It's okay. Let me help.”

  
  


And that's how Felix finds himself standing in front of Dimitri, wearing a light blue apron and a visor of the same color, serving him the first batch of sweets.

Dimitri looks… different.

But that’s not weird. Of course he would look different— he was a child the last time Felix saw him, with an awful pageboy haircut which they thought was the height of style at the time. He was the mayor’s son after all, so everyone in their class thought he was cool. 

He still keeps his hair long. It’s tied into a half bun, so his whole face is visible. His face isn’t as round as Felix remember, but he's still as handsome. His nose is imposing. He’s wearing an eyepatch.

And it looks like he doesn’t recognize Felix.

Whatever. “Don’t you remember anything?” He asks when Dimitri puts down the éclair.

The man looks up at him and just then, recognition colors his one visible eye. “Felix,” he says, like he’s surprised. “You… work here?”

Felix wants to hit him with the tray. “Everyone works here. It’s my turn today.”

Dimitri just nods and accepts it like it doesn’t sound ridiculous.

“I’m being sarcastic.”

“Ah,” Dimitri says very eloquently. “I know that.”

He tightens his grip on the wooden tray. Dimitri just continues eating. Pretty soon he’s eaten one of every item C&Y offers.

Annette and Mercedes look terrified.

Felix hands him a bottle of water, which he stares at for about ten seconds before drinking.

And then he pays for what he ordered, and leaves.

“What was that?” Felix yells when he’s sure Dimitri won’t hear.

“Maybe he missed the town and wanted to have a taste of everything just once,” Mercedes offers, though it doesn’t look like she believes herself.

“We should close up shop. The atmosphere is weird.” Annette says out of the blue when they fall into silence. “Let’s just take the leftover bakes home.”

Felix helps the two of them close up. It’s not even noon yet, but they don’t seem put out by the fact that they have to close so early, so maybe it’s become a fairly usual occurrence. 

  
  


The next day, he wakes up to a call from Annette at ass o’clock in the morning.

“Felix, we’re outside your house!” She says through the phone, and he bolts out of bed like a madman. 

“Why are you there?” He asks. Looking down through the window, he can see two cars pulled up in front of the house, and one of them is his brother’s. 

Annette laughs. “Just come out. You said you’d help us out with anything, right? Well, we’re asking for your help now.”

Several familiar faces greet him when he comes out of the house after showering briskly. Ingrid is the one driving Glenn’s car (“ _Glenn let me borrow it because I said it looked amazing,”_ ) and Sylvain is beside her, looking like he had no idea Felix was in town and is mad about it ( _“Why didn’t you visit, man?”_ ). Meanwhile, Mercedes’ car has Annette and Ashe in it ( _“Wow, Felix, you look like the action movie stars I used to tell you about!”_ ). 

“Where are we going?” He asks as he’s being pushed into the backseat of his brother’s car. 

“Stop asking questions,” says Sylvain in a rough voice, probably trying to sound like a kidnapper. Felix smacks him on the arm.

Ingrid cranes her neck to look at him and smile. “It’s nice to see you, Felix.”

He gives her a high-five. 

“Again, where are we going?”

“We’re going on a mission to save Crumbs & Yums,” Sylvain announces proudly. “Annie said she gained some confidence yesterday because of a certain someone. And we all offered to help, so here we are.”

  
  


Ingrid drives like a woman possessed. Felix almost starts worrying about the well-being of his brother’s car. 

He finds out later while they’re sitting inside the shop that Ingrid, Ashe, and Sylvain have made a whole plan about how to save C&Y. It’s a lot of words Felix is not interested in, but he tries to listen.

The three of them have always been good at things like this— Felix and Annette were just the ones who helped with executing whatever plans they have. Annette with her wit and her thirst for achievement, and Felix with… well, his stubbornness. Being years older, one would probably expect Mercedes to be the ‘mom friend’ who tries to stop whatever chaos they want to create, but she was always on board with it, and even suggests better plans at times.

Sylvain slaps the table hard. “That’s it.”

“I’m sorry, Sylvain, but your abs will not boost C&Y’s sales. It’s not going to happen.”

“You wound me, Inka.”

Ashe hums. “Actually, it might.”

“Stop humoring him, Ashe.” Annette scolds. “We need a concrete plan. Sure, we can use Sylvain’s social media to promote better, but I also like Ingrid’s expanding idea. We’ve never offered any beverages that aren’t water or instant coffee, so I think it’ll be nice if we add better stuff to the menu.”

“How are we going to do that, though? We need to prepare for Wintercrest, too. We probably don’t have enough time.” Ashe says.

Ingrid answers immediately. “It’s actually perfect. We can use the town’s usual Wintercrest celebration as a way to promote C&Y. I mean, it _will_ be held in the C&Y events hall, right?” She nods to herself. “We just need to find good coffee, and then we can debut them at the event.”

Good coffee. “My mother has her own brew, and I've never had anything like it anywhere.” Felix chimes in. “I don’t know how she makes it, though.”

“Really?” Annette beams. “Andreja would probably be willing to share it with us if we ask.”

“I’ll ask her.” He replies. 

Ingrid smiles at him, and then swiftly turns her focus back on the group. “Okay, now that we might have the beverages sorted out, what about the new sweets?”

“We have Mercie and Annie for that, remember?” Sylvain says. 

“Yup! In fact, we’ve kept this a secret for so long, but we’ve been trying out new unique recipes since summer, when people were looking for cold desserts. We have it covered!” Annette gives them a double thumbs up.

“Who’s going to taste-test them?” Ingrid asks, turning her attention on Annette. 

“Someone whose taste buds aren’t too fried,” Sylvain interjects before Ingrid could continue. “So not you, Inka. Sorry.”

Ashe ponders for a second. “It’s not just Ingrid, though. We’re all biased. Anything you two make will be delicious to us, so it wouldn’t be that accurate.” 

“I might have an idea,” Mercedes says, speaking for the first time since the discussion started. She puts her hands together and smiles at Felix, who gets the feeling he won't be allowed to say no.

(“Sorry. I can’t actually taste anything.” Dimitri says when Felix comes knocking on the door of the old Blaiddyd family home per Mercedes' request and Sylvain's hollering.

“He has ageusia.” The other, _taller_ man adds, as if Felix knows what that is.

Dimitri has the gall to look apologetic. 

“So you ate all those sweets… but they didn't taste like anything to you?” Felix asks. He almost wishes he still had that wooden tray he was holding yesterday.

He shakes his head. “Have a good day, Felix,” he says, and closes the door in Felix’s face.)

“Okay. Okay. That’s fine. You can be the taste-tester, Felix.” 

“Sylvain, he’ll be busy making the coffee.”

“First of all, I can’t taste-test. I hate sweets.” Felix says exasperatedly. “And second, I never said I was making the coffee. I was just going to ask my mother how she makes it. I thought one of you would be doing the brewing?”

Ingrid crosses her arms. “What are you here for, then?”

“I told Annette and Mercedes I would help them with the financial aspect.”

Sylvain laughs. “You do know they’re not broke, right? C&Y is failing as a business, but Annie and Mercie are technically from old money.”

Felix blinks.

"They could've sold it already, you know. They wouldn't lose much. In fact, they could probably establish another business whenever they want. But Annie and Mercie both believe in the importance of C&Y to the town, and we do, too. That's why we're all here. If you think this is a money problem... well," Sylvain trails off. "You're wrong."

Ingrid elbows him. "That's too harsh."

Felix chooses to ignore that. "What company's trying to buy it anyway? And what are they planning to do if Annette's and Mercedes' families actually agree?"

"I don't remember what company exactly, but it doesn't matter. They want to buy C&Y the franchise and C&Y the building." Sylvain leans back on the counter. "If we fail, and things keep going downhill for C&Y—"

"Don't be so negative, Sylvain."

"Hey, I'm not. I'm just saying it's one of the possibilities."

Felix sighs. 

“I'm going,” he says, more to himself than to Sylvain and Ingrid. “I'll ask my mother about the coffee.”

“Aw, thank you, Felyenka.”

Sylvain has been hanging around Glenn too much. He shoots him a glare. “Shut up.”

  
  


When he gets home, his mother is watching another awful Wintercrest-themed TV movie, and his brother is nowhere to be found. 

“Are you drinking coffee again?” He asks while taking off his socks. 

She laughs. “What else am I going to drink?”

“l don't know,” he drops the socks onto the laundry basket. “Eggnog?”

“Grab a cup and come watch the movie with me.” She puts down her mug on the center table and crosses her legs. “I know you hate these things, but humor me.”

He does as he's told.

She scoots over closer to him right as his butt hits the surface of the couch. “Did you know Dimitri's also home for Wintercrest?”

Okay. Felix didn't expect that. “How do you know that?” 

“You know, it's really strange. Their family moved to the city before you even graduated primary school.” She doesn't answer his question. “I wonder why he's here.”

He doesn't reply. The woman in the movie is crying because her big-city-boyfriend just broke up with her on the phone. 

“Don't you remember Dimitri?” The volume of his mother's voice has increased. She has a twinkle in her eye, and Felix doesn't trust it at all. “He was your best friend, along with Inka and Sylvasha. Blond hair, blue eyes. I remember you had a fascination with braiding his hair. You used to have a huge cru—”

“I get it,” he cuts her off, feeling blood rush to his cheeks. “I remember him. We've already talked.”

She smiles, and it's trouble. “Oh?”

“Stop that.”

“Stop what?”

Felix feels his cheeks heat up even more. “Stop expecting things.”

“I'm not expecting anything,” she says, like a liar.

He focuses his eyes on the TV screen. The woman in the movie is now sitting in a cafe alone, holding what seems like a steaming cup of— “I was meaning to ask you about this coffee.”

“What, does it not taste good? You want that horrible convenience store coffee you brought home the other day?” 

“No,” he replies immediately. “About C&Y…”

  
  


Felix did not expect the process to be so simple.

“Sometimes I accidentally burn the coffee grounds and it still tastes good.”

“Mama, I'm sorry, but that's fucking impossible.”

“Watch your mouth when you talk to me.”

“You were the one who taught me that word.”

He watches as she puts two tablespoons of coffee grounds into the pot. The aroma hits his nose like a punch that's somehow pleasant, and he instinctively leans in to smell more.

“Don't be stupid,” his mother hits him upside the head.

He ignores her and leans in farther.

She pulls him back by his shirt and uses the tablespoon she's holding to stir the coffee grounds. “You can only make it this way if you really want the best results, but you have to be patient because it takes so much slower than other types of coffee. And using a coffee maker makes it taste different.”

“Why?”

“I don't know. It just does.” She replies right away, not even looking at him. And then she remembers something. “These coffee grounds are from a particular city in southern Brigid. If you really want to use it for C&Y, you'll have to deal with importing it. It might cost a lot.”

“Money isn't a problem,” Felix says. 

“Hmm, I suppose you're right.”

“I know you always serve it black,” he turns to her, “but is cream an option?”

She nods. “You can put cream, of course. It might look intimidating to people if they're new to it.” And then she smiles at him.

“What are you smiling about?”

“Nothing,” his mother says, looking away from him but still smiling. “I guess I'm just happy you're home. I never even thought you would be interested in this sort of thing one day.”

Felix takes the spoon from her hand and stirs the coffee in the pot.

A few days later, Felix has four new drinks, without including the simple black coffee and the one with cream.

As Ashe and Ingrid prepare to leave after dropping off the additional ingredients he told them about, Glenn enters the kitchen.

“Get out. You're bothering me.”

“Come on, baby brother,” he says (coolly, though Felix would never tell him that), knowing that Felix hates being called that. “You never let me come in here. I'm just saying hello to your friends.”

Ashe and Ingrid excuse themselves, noting that they still have things to do at the bakeshop.

“You're being weird again,” he says to Glenn when they're alone. “What are you hiding?”

Just then, their mother enters the kitchen as well, pulling someone by the arm like an excited child during show-and-tell.

In walks Dimitri, looking alarmed but also looking… good. His hair is down from the half-bun he was sporting when he went to C&Y, and he's wearing a white button-up with three of the buttons at the top _unbuttoned_. 

“That.” Glenn points, giving Felix his irritating fake smile. “That's what I'm hiding.”

He uncaps the sweetened apple juice and pours it into one of the pump bottles he got at the market. He doesn't look up at the newcomer. “Why is he here?”

“Don't be like that, Felya. You two used to be so close!” Their mother says.

Felix looks up at her then, because he feels like something else is coming. 

It comes, like a storm weathered. “I think you should make him a drink. Right, Glenn?”

“He should,” his brother agrees enthusiastically. “He makes really good coffee now, Dima. You should definitely try some of his blends.”

Dima. _Dima_.

Felix doesn't remember if he ever used that nickname for Dimitri. Everyone else did, but he remembers being the only one to call him _Mitya_ instead.

The thought almost makes him drop the gallon of apple juice.

“I wouldn't… mind a drink.” Dimitri speaks.

Their mother makes him sit on the stool right across Felix and proceeds to basically interview him. Where did you study, how is your father, why are you in town— questions everyone has asked him since he came, surely. Glenn does the same, though his questions are more about if Dimitri remembers this or that.

Maybe Felix would be more affected by his presence if he weren't so busy.

“Oh, look at the time!” He hears his mother say right as he starts to open the container of vanilla cream Mercedes made. “It's almost 11. Would you like to have lunch with us?”

Felix looks up only to see Dimitri hesitate.

“Don't force yourself if you don't want to.“ He says to the other man as he takes the lid off of the container. 

Dimitri glances at him, the expression on his face unreadable. “I would like to.” 

  
  


Felix takes a break from the kitchen so that Glenn could cook lunch. He follows his mother (and Dimitri) to the living room, and hurriedly takes the single-seater for himself before anyone (his mother) could get _funny_ ideas about who should sit next to whom.

Dimitri takes a seat beside Felix's mother on the big couch, acting all friendly. But he could see through it— he's just pretending to be nice. The way he shut the door in Felix's face a few days ago was proof that he'd changed.

“Felix here has been helping his friends at the pastry shop, which I'm sure you remember. They're trying to boost the business. Or at least make it popular again, the way it was before.” His mother mentions, turning the TV on using the remote. “Have you visited Crumbs & Yums?”

Dimitri nods. “I have,” he says, glancing at Felix for a split-second. “Felix was there.”

“Annette and Mercedes gave their staff that week off. I was helping them out.” He explains when his mother looks at him curiously.

She nods, and then swiftly turns to look at Dimitri again. “I think you should try Felix's coffee blends. They're going to be his contribution to C&Y.”

“I—”

“He's lost his sense of taste,” he cuts Dimitri off, “so I doubt he'll get anything from trying the coffee.”

“Thank you, Felix, but I can speak for myself.”

The silence stretches on until Glenn calls Felix to the kitchen.

He gets up wordlessly and stalks to where his brother is. “What do you want?”

“Make a Wintercrest Miracle happen by just making the fucking coffee.” Glenn says, eyes focused on whatever he's making on the pan. 

“What for? Your _guest_ can't taste it, and you already had coffee this morning.” 

Glenn doesn't answer, which means he isn't in the mood to deal with Felix being difficult. 

He makes four cups of what Ingrid had dubbed as ‘raspberry frappe’ (though he calls in ‘Ingrid coffee’ in his mind), complete with whipped cream on top. It's the easiest out of all the experimental blends, and takes way shorter time to make, so it's perfect. And if Dimitri can't taste it, it's not too much of a waste of ingredients.

Dimitri makes a whole show of scooping out the whipped cream like ice cream, and Glenn laughs about it.

The tension from earlier doesn't weigh on them as much as he thought it would. He watches as Dimitri takes a sip of the drink, and then another, and then another.

“It's a bit too sweet for my liking.”

“Too sweet?” He raises a brow. “I watched you eat whipped cream like it was nothing and now you're telling me the coffee is too swee—” Felix doesn't get to finish the sentence because a thought strikes him—“You can taste it?”

Dimitri's one visible eye widens, and he looks down at the half-empty cup in his hands. “I—”

“Wintercrest Miracles.” Glenn stage-whispers. 

Their mother laughs. “Did Felix's coffee make your tastebuds come alive?” She asks Dimitri, who blushes. “Goddess. I had no idea my son was capable of such things.”

“Mama, stop it,” he says to her, hoping that the heat on his cheeks isn't visible. He shoots Dimitri a glare. “That's impossible. Try drinking it again.”

He does exactly that, and says, “I can still taste it. It's too sweet.”

Felix hears his mother and brother clap like deranged seals.

  
  


“Why are you here?”

Dimitri averts his eyes. “Dedue told me you weren't letting anyone inside the kitchen.”

“And you think ‘anyone’ doesn't include you?” Felix retorts, making sure his expression remains unimpressed.

It's been almost a week since The Incident In Which Dimitri Could Suddenly Taste Something, which is what Felix has taken to call The Incident.

Dimitri couldn't taste anything else— just Felix's coffee, for some unfathomable reason. Dimitri's friend from the city started coming over as well, and Felix found he was a great help because he had experience as a barista.

But Dedue talks about Dimitri too much, and Felix isn't equipped with the right brain to handle that. (His brain, unfortunately, is a little shit that makes him imagine doing unspeakable things involving Dimitri and his not-pageboy haircut.)

When Dimitri doesn't answer with his own quip, he goes back to refilling the pump bottles carefully.

“Dedue has been helping your friends at the pastry shop,” he says suddenly, facing Felix completely now. “He says they are more welcoming than he thought they would be.”

He glances up at him for a second. “They're your friends, too.” 

“I suppose.” Dimitri sits up straighter. “What blend are you going to make?”

“The new one.”

“Oh?”

“Yes. Stop making that face.”

“Sorry,” he replies, chuckling at himself a little. “I got quite excited.“

Felix hums. ‘The new one’ is the one Dimitri took a liking to. All the other ones are named in his head already to help him remember— it sounds cheesy, but they're all named after his friends, because all of them at one point had picked their favorite out of his experimental blends. The one with raspberry is Ingrid, the one that has white mocha and chocolate chip cookie crumble is Annette, the one with whiskey is Sylvain, so on and so forth. 

(He doesn't want to name this one after Dimitri, though. He's not naming anything after Dimitri.)

They're all making splendid progress on whatever's been assigned to them. Sylvain's communication degree has proven useful. Mercedes and Annette are adding new pastries to the menu, and removing the ones that almost no one buys. Ashe and Ingrid have made a whole commercial for the shop, too.

“Felix… I've been meaning to ask,” Dimitri speaks up again. “Where do you work? I heard from Andreja that you have a job in the city, but I've never heard you talk about it.”

“I _had_ a job in an architecture firm called Seiros Arkithetica. I quit.” He answers as nonchalantly as he could, and accidentally drops the teaspoon he just grabbed from the drawer.

Dimitri looks shocked for a second, and Felix doesn't understand why he would be so shocked over a teaspoon. 

He clears his throat. “Let me—”

“I'll—”

They both bend down to fetch it off the floor, and like a cliché, their hands brush accidentally upon picking up the teaspoon. Felix feels— _swears_ that he feels—an electric shock throughout his body when their hands made contact, and he curses, getting up as Dimitri acquires the spoon himself.

He tries to grab the teaspoon out of Dimitri's hand, but he doesn't let it go. "I'll wash it."

"What do you mean you'll wash it? This is my house." Felix counters. "Give it to me."

"Felix, I will wash it. Carry on with the drink."

"You _won't_ wash it, you're a guest."

Felix tries to grab it again, and because Dimitri is just as difficult as he is, they have a pulling match over a goddess-damned _teaspoon_. A tug-of-war over something so small. 

He's just about to pull it from the other's grasp when he slips on a rug and falls over backwards, pulling Felix down with him.

What is going _on_ — as they fall to the floor, his mind conjures up a theory that he'd been cursed to be in one of those bad Wintercrest-themed romance movies he despises.

He becomes very aware of what position they're in when Dimitri asks, "are you alright?"

Felix is straddling him. His palms are resting on his (very broad) (very firm) chest. Dimitri is holding his wrists as if he was the one who guided Felix's hands there, and he's looking up at him with shock and awe and something else Felix can't quite place.

All for a teaspoon.

He's just about to get up and mumble a quick apology when the universe, as he's convinced, decides to fuck with him even more. Glenn walks into the kitchen holding bags of groceries, and he freezes upon the sight.

"Oopsie!" Glenn says, flashing them the same insincere smile he often uses when talking to Mercedes, and walks away.

And again, the universe does what it does best. He tries to get up as quickly as possible, only to hit his head on one of the stools and come crashing back down on Dimitri.

His lips land just beside Dimitri's own.

Felix curses all of his ancestors for making his birth possible. 

"Felya? Have you seen my nail clipper?" His mother's voice comes through clear as day, which means she must be close. The two of them finally manage to get up and arrange themselves. 

He rubs the back of his head, and _fuck_ it hurts because the stools are made of metal and he's sure he heard a loud clang when he hit his head against it.

"Felya?"

"I haven't!" He answers loudly, startling Dimitri, who is now finished with washing the teaspoon.

All that. For a fucking teaspoon.

Dimitri gives him the smallest of smiles.

Felix stalks out of the kitchen.

The walls of C&Y are being repainted by some of the staff when he gets there. His head still hurts from what happened yesterday, and the smell of the paint makes it hurt more.

"Good morning, Felix." It's Ashe who greets him. He's looking through a clipboard as he sits in the booth just beside the door, and his eyes are laser-focused on whatever he's reading.

He greets him back and makes his way to where the others are. It's been a week since they decided they should close C&Y for 'renovations' (though the word 'rearrangement' would be more accurate), and it seems to be going smoothly. The staff are back from their one week off, too. According to Ingrid, they all happily volunteered to do the repainting.

Felix hears Sylvain first before he sees him. He's hunched over one of the tables in the room, staring at a cake. "What are these called again?"

"This type of cake is called Sansrival." Mercedes answers. Her hair is up in a bun and secured with a hairnet. "I don't know if you'll like it, though. It has cashews and pistachios."

"I'm not a baby," he replies. "I have a refined palate, okay? Pistachios are good."

Annette laughs. "Okay, Sylvain. How did you gain this 'refined palate' of yours?"

"I watch a lot of MasterChef. And The Great Dagdan Bake Off."

"I watch a lot of horse documentaries. Does that make me a horse?" Ingrid says, looking away from her phone for a few seconds.

Sylvain shakes his head. "That's a fallacy."

"What are you all doing?" Felix speaks, and almost all of them get startled except for Mercedes. 

"Gah, you scared me!" Annette jumps. "Who said you were allowed in here?"

Felix frowns and looks around. "Am I not?"

"Where's Dimitri?" Ingrid asks, eyes still on her phone. "I heard he was coming today."

"I don't know where he is. I'm not his—" He cuts himself off. He's been doing that a lot lately. "Nevermind. I'm finished with all the blends, but I have no idea what you want to call them. You can all come over later if you want."

Mercedes perks up. "Oh, that's perfect, Felix. The new sweets are done as well, and we still have one week before the Wintercrest celebration. That means we still have lots of time to prepare!"

Felix begrudgingly (not) accepts the hug Annette gives him.

Dimitri comes in later with Dedue, and they have a discussion about how they're going to decorate the Brigitte Fantine Dominic Events Hall for the Wintercrest celebration. 

Felix feels someone watching him the whole time, and when he meets their gaze, he's greeted with icy blue, edging into sea green.

("Is there something on your mind?"

Felix drops the ball ornament back into the box he's carrying and sighs. "No. Let's go."

Dimitri nods. He follows Felix into the hall where they're supposed to decorate the tree.

"After Wintercrest... are you coming back to the city?"

"I'll be staying here until the New Year."

"Ah," he puts down his box on one of the big tables. "I was thinking of staying as well, but I don't think I can."

Felix raises a brow at him. "Why not?" 

He averts his eyes like he's done many times before. "I have work waiting for me."

"Why did you decide to come this year, anyway? It's been a long time since you moved."

"Are we supposed to use only the blue ornaments, or are we allowed to use other colors?" Dimitri asks, changing the subject. 

Felix indulges him, though the curiosity remains. "Just blue on this tree.")

It's been so long since Felix last stepped into the Blaiddyds' home.

He expected it to be filthy, full of cobwebs and other things brought about by the absence of its owners for a decade and a half, but Dimitri and Dedue did a great job with cleaning up the place. Or whoever they hired to do it, because the house is way too big for just the two of them to clean in such a short amount of time.

"We should go to my room."

"Your Highness, that's so improper of you!" Sylvain exclaims, using the nickname Dimitri gained after Annette put a plastic crown on his head while decorating and he just forgot about it. "All of us, at once? Isn't that—"

Ingrid elbows him, and the bottles of liquor he's holding in a wicker basket Mercedes provided clink together.

"Please don't call me that," Dimitri says, blushing. "The balcony is only accessible through the room that used to be mine, so... we must pass through there."

Right. They're going to the balcony. Dimitri mentioned it to Felix earlier. 

Said balcony is wider than Felix's childhood bedroom, but it's not safe from the childishness.

Felix crosses his arms. "We're not high schoolers."

"Yeah, we aren't teenagers anymore, Sylvain." Ashe adds. 

Ever the instigator, Sylvain ignores them. "Whatever. I'm spinning it."

And because his bad luck has become a theme this solstice, of course it lands on him.

"Truth or dare, Felya."

He glares at Sylvain. "Fine. Truth."

"Let me ask the question!" Ashe exclaims all of a sudden, raising his hand. "Felix, be honest: how has your stay in Galehault been?"

"Weren't you agreeing with me about this game being childish?"

"Answer the question." Ingrid interjects. Her tone is not lacking in its usual firmness, but when Felix looks at her, he sees that she's smiling.

How has his stay been?

Felix didn't expect anything to come of his spontaneous trip to his hometown after resigning, that's for sure. He thought he was just going to stay at home until the Wintercrest celebration actually starts, and he wouldn't need to talk to anyone.

But this is better, he thinks. His younger self would've hated that thought, but he's too old to still be like that. 

He downs the remaining contents of his first bottle of dew liquor. And then he looks around to see what his friends' faces look like. Dimitri looks very pleased for some reason. "I've loved every second of it," he finally answers, and he finds that he means it. 

The seven other people in the balcony erupt in applause. 

Mercedes opens the containers she brought with her, full of both sweet and savory treats. The applause gets louder.

"Can you taste it?" He asks Dimitri, who is halfway through devouring a cream puff. 

Dimitri shakes his head. And despite himself, Felix laughs. He doesn't know why either. 

He watches as Dimitri bites into a meat pie next. "What about that one?"

Dimitri doesn't respond. He just shoves the meat pie in Felix's face, encouraging him to bite. He does, and Dimitri smiles at him.

Felix swallows the meat pie down. "So the only thing you can taste is coffee."

"No," Dimitri replies. "The only thing I can taste is _yo_ _ur_ coffee."

Felix punches his arm.

The game continues. Felix drinks more, and more, and more— his tolerance still isn't high, but the weekends he spent with Dorothea and Hilda in various shady bars have improved it a little.

Everything is blurry by the time the bottle lands on him again. "Truth!" He says before they could even ask.

"Boring," Annette yells, prolonging the last syllable with impressive breath control.

"I'll ask!" Sylvain says, not even a pinch drunk. 

Someone's phone rings. The circle they formed on the floor shifts, and the balcony doors slide open and shut. 

Felix feels warm to the core. "Ask, Sylvain. Goddess." 

Mercedes beats Sylvain to it. She isn't drunk either. "What's going on with you and Dimitri?"

A collective gasp. Felix gasps along with them. Fuck Glenn, he can be dramatic too. He's Andreja's son.

Wait, why is he gasping?

"Nothing. We're..." He opens his eyes. "We almost kissed. I don't know."

Gasps, again. 

Mercedes doesn't seem satisfied. "What do you mean?"

"I felt his..." He forgets what word. "You know," he mimes touching something firm and soft at the same time. "You know?"

Sylvain cackles. 

The last thing Felix remembers is that someone's tucking him into bed.

(Except that's not the last thing he remembers.

Dimitri's voice. "I'm sorry."

Felix touches his cheeks. "For what?"

"For not being honest," he feels Dimitri's hot breath on his fingertips.)

Felix wakes up in his bed under the softest blanket he owns. His phone is vibrating in his hand. _3_ _:00 PM_ , the screen reads, _24th of Ethereal Moon, Year 2020_.

It's the Wintercrest Eve, the celebration is tonight, and he chose today to wake up this late?

When his mother wordlessly pulls him into a hug when he gets out of his room, he realizes that something is wrong.

The hall is full of people when he enters it, mostly volunteers who are helping them finish the decorations before tonight's party. Annette and Mercedes are absent, but Felix knows it's because they're busy in the bakeshop. Sylvain, Ingrid, and Ashe are huddled together in one corner looking like they're working on something.

"Hey," is what he starts with. All three of them jump, and Felix wonders if his presence is really that low. "Sorry I'm late."

Ashe smiles at him, and for a while it makes Felix feel like everything is fine, but it doesn't last long. "It's okay, Felix."

"Where are Dimitri and Dedue?" He asks. 

Silence. Ingrid starts cutting red hearts made of construction paper furiously, and the scissors start crunching on the rough paper.

"You're going to waste all the reds," Sylvain mumbles to her. 

"I don't care. As long as I finish the hearts."

Felix sighs and puts his hands in his jean pockets. He has a hangover, and he needs none of this. "I need Dimitri and Dedue with me to prepare the coffee."

"I guess His Highness didn't tell you, huh?" Says Sylvain, smile too wide to be real. "I think he's leaving with Dedue soon."

He narrows his eyes at him. "Why would he be leaving?"

Ingrid and Ashe share a look, and then they both look at Sylvain like they're expecting him to say something, leaving Felix more confused.

"What's going on?"

"I just remembered what the company trying to buy Crumbs & Yums is called," Sylvain says abruptly. The fake smile is still plastered on. "It's Azure Corp."

Felix is not underestimating how big their town is this time. 

He takes his brother's hot pink nightmare from Ingrid to drive to the other side of town, where he knows Dimitri will be. 

He hates being the last to know things. As the youngest child, he was always that. He's tired of it. 

The doorbell doesn't work. He raps at the door with his fist, and he knows he's making so much noise, but he doesn't care.

Dimitri opens the door, and the creaking of the old hinges grates on his ears.

"Felix," he says his name, acting like nothing is wrong.

He keeps his hands balled into fists. "You weren't planning on telling me?"

Upon realizing that Felix already knows, Dimitri's face falls. "I'm sorry."

"You're sorry?" Felix shouts. "You're sorry for what?"

"For not telling you sooner," he replies, taking on a more formal tone. "Don't worry. I'm leaving tonight. I can assure you, Azure will not be bothering the Dominic and Martritz families again."

Dimitri goes to close the door, but Felix traps it with his foot."That's it?"

"I understand you're upset, Felix. I promise you'll never see me again after this—"

"That's not why I'm here!" He yells, frustrated. "I _am_ upset about your dishonesty. That's true. But..."

He doesn't respond. 

"After all that, you think we want you to just fuck off to wherever it is you're going?" He continues, feeling out of breath. "You think we never want to see you again? What gives you the right to put words in our mouths?"

"Felix..."

"You think this will solve the problem, Dimitri?"

"No." 

Felix looks him in the eye. "Then why? It's not like any of us are angry at you. In the end, you still chose to tell us— _them_ —and that matters. You helped us. You helped C&Y. You became our friend. So why are you leaving?"

Dimitri doesn't lose his composure. "I came here to try convincing the two families to sell their failing shop. I had no intentions of making friends with any of you, or to help you with anything," he pauses to take a deep breath. "But then I saw how hard you all worked to save it, and I couldn't do it anymore. That's why I'm leaving. Does that not make you happy?"

"Why would I be happy about that?"

"Because it will be easier this way!"

 _Easier._ Easier to just leave and never come back?

"Fine. Leave, then." All the fight in Felix disappears. "It was nice meeting you."

Annette hugs him tight, and he doesn't just let her. He hugs back.

He wakes up to Mercedes shaking him. "Felix, it's almost time."

She's dressed in the colors they agreed upon— royal blue and white, in the spirit of Galehault. Felix fell asleep on the counter, already dressed in the clothes Glenn lent him, and it's one hour before midnight.

"Are you alright?"

Felix nods. "Is everything ready?"

Mercedes smiles at him. "Yes. The others are waiting for us."

They walk to the events hall together. There's no one on the streets, which means most of the residents are gathered there already. 

"You know, Felix, I believe in Wintercrest Miracles."

"It didn't take a miracle to save C&Y. We all did that by ourselves."

"Perhaps," she looks up at the sky. The stars look like they're greeting her. "But I'm not talking about our little bakeshop."

"What are you talking about, then?" He asks. 

"I don't know."

He snorts. "We need some rest, don't we?"

"We really do," she agrees.

The events hall is now lit up and festive, and though Felix thought the decorations they put up already brought the energy of the place to higher level, having people actually show up makes it look even more lively. The new additions to the C&Y menu are displayed in the front, free for everyone who's a resident of Galehault.

The C&Y staff who are in charge of the drinks are dressed in the same colors as them, and they're all busy taking orders. Felix feels proud despite himself. For once he helped create something that didn't cause anyone harm in the name of 'development.'

There's a countdown displayed in the large monitor right by the stage. _0:47:32, 0:47:31, 0:47:30_...

Annette and leads them to the table where the others are already seated, right in the center. 

"How are you all?" Mercedes asks them once she's seated. 

Sylvain answers for all of them. "Doin' fine, Mercie. Don't worry about us."

"I hope tonight ends well." Ingrid says, looking a bit dejected.

"Guys, I know what happened is weighing on all of us, but... don't forget, Wintercrest in in less than an hour." Ashe pipes up, trying to sound cheerful. "And if I believe in something, it's the power of Wintercrest."

"You sound like a movie character," Felix says to him.

He laughs. "I know. But sometimes a little hope goes a long way."

His mother shows up a few minutes later, wearing one of her sequin dresses and matching evening gloves. 

"Andreja!" Mercedes stands up from her seat and shares a hug with her. "I'm looking forward to your performance."

Felix cranes his neck to look at her. "You're performing?"

She shrugs. "I decided last minute that these tourists deserve to hear me sing."

"Oh, so you weren't invited to perform?"

Andreja Diane Fraldarius laughs, and she sounds a whole other person. "Son, only _I_ can invite me."

She walks away and joins her friends.

"Sometimes it's hard to believe she's your mom." Annette says, giggling at the older woman's antics.

"I know," he replies.

The night starts when there's 30 minutes left on the countdown. Annette and Mercedes give their welcome remarks together on the stage. The whole place erupts in cheers when they announce the new additions to the menu, and that they're free for tonight. Felix barely registers being pulled by Ingrid and Sylvain to the stage until he's actually there, holding a microphone.

"I," he gulps. Public speaking is not his strong suit. "Good evening, everyone. A lot of us worked hard these past two or three weeks to put this event together. We hope you enjoy the expanded Crumbs & Yums menu. Thank you." 

Mercedes claps, and everyone else follows. 

He gives the microphone back to Annette. Ingrid and Sylvain drag him down the stage this time.

"I have been given the privilege to introduce to you a woman who played a part in the success of our event..."

Felix watches as Annette introduces his mother with enthusiasm. He claps when she finishes, and claps even harder when his mother actually gets on stage. 

The curtain parts, and reveals a whole band, with some faces Felix recognizes and one he cannot stand— his brother. Glenn is dressed in his finest suit, and when he inevitably makes eye contact with Felix, he winks.

"Glenn's going to play the piano?" Sylvain whispers. 

Ingrid snorts. "Of course he is."

_0:05:00_

_0:04:59_

Andreja Diane Fraldarius sings her heart out in Adrestian. Felix hears winter in her voice— she relays the story of winter; strong and cruel, but at the same time light and beautiful. 

_0:02:46_

_0:02:45_

Felix takes a deep breath. The winter is lonely by itself, producing harsh winds and sharp, icy edges, and yet it’s still beautiful.

_0:00:53_

_0:00:52_

Winter coats the land in pure white and lets you walk on things you never dared to walk on before. It's a reason for gathering, for joining hands.

_0:00:28_

_0:00:27_

"Felix," Mercedes says from behind him, "go!"

He stands up from his chair in alarm. "What?"

She hands him a cup, icy blue and stamped with the logo of the little bakeshop. In it is a cold brew with whipped cream on top.

"What is this—"

"You know what it is!" Annette whisper-shouts. "Go!"

She points to the direction of the exit, and immediately, Felix understands.

_0:00:19_

_0:00:18_

He runs, careful not to spill the contents. He notices that Dedue is standing near the doorway, looking pleased with himself and alarmed at the same time.

_0:00:12_

_0:00:11_

He sees a black Maserati rounding the corner where the events hall is in, and he runs faster than he's ever run before.

_0:00:07_

_0:00:06_

"Dimitri!" He calls, and whoever's driving the car hits the brakes.

_0:00:05_

_0:00:04_

"This is for you," he hands him the cup. There's writing on it, which he recognizes as his own from a few days ago. _Dimitri Blend._ "Happy Wintercrest." He adds, out of breath.

_0:00:03_

_0:00:02_

"Thank you, Felix." Dimitri responds, taking the cup. "I'm afraid I don't have cash to pay for this, so I hope you accept this instead."

Dimitri kisses him on the forehead softly. Soft and cold as a snowflake landing on his eyelashes.

_0:00:01_

_0:00:00_

Felix pulls him down by the collar and kisses him on the lips.

"Happy Wintercrest!" The events hall erupts in merriment behind them.

He pulls away, out of breath and face unfairly red. "I'll accept that as payment for the Dimitri Blend."

Dimitri smiles, and like he honestly couldn't control it, he starts laughing. "Dimitri Blend, really? How creative of you."

"I know," he says, enjoying the way Dimitri looks in the moonlight under the snow. "It's Wintercrest now. Will you stay?"

Dimitri doesn't hesitate at all. "I will."

**Author's Note:**

> thank you so much for reading!!! damn, a lot of things happened while i was writing this. i lost files, lost a stable internet connection, and then a whole 6.3 magnitude earthquake took place in my province. i love you, philippines, but sometimes you really wanna k-word me huh?
> 
> i am on [twitter](https://www.twitter.com/divinepxlse) where i tweet about nothing and everything (read: dimilix) all the time


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